Three Small Words
by TStabler
Summary: Olivia and Elliot are both in serious relationships, keeping it a secret from their friends, and each other, until now. Three small words, and a few secrets revealed, can change so much. E/O One-shot. By request.


**A/N: A fic by request? From me? No, never! Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and its characters. TStabler© owns the narrative, dialogue and plot of this story**

"So, Benson," Munch said, over his sunglasses and through a heavy smirk. "When do we get to meet this guy?"

"You don't," Olivia said, smirking right back. "I'd actually like this one to stick around for a while, and the second he meets you and hears your theory about government scandals involving grape jelly, he'll run like the wind."

Fin looked up from his plate and chuckled. "Oh, but I bet you're gonna introduce him to Stabler, right?"

Olivia glared. Hard. "I want him to stick around _and_ be alive, Fin. Elliot has successfully scared off every date I've had in the last four years. He arrested one, if I remember correctly!"

"For your own good, Liv," Elliot said. "They were all jerks. That one guy was a convicted felon!"

"He had an unpaid parking ticket, Elliot!" Olivia yelled. "He wasn't a killer!"

Elliot smirked and shrugged. "Hey, they all gotta start somewhere. At least tell me his name," he demanded, exaggerating an eye-roll.

"No! You're gonna run a background check on him, and then call him pretending to be my angry husband like you did with Greg. He still thinks I'm a two-timing floozy!" Olivia barked, trying to get the bartender's attention by waving obnoxiously at the bar.

"Woah," Munch cried. "She dated Greg two years ago. Stabler, Kathy was...you were still mar..."

"I know I was," Elliot interrupted. "Liv was more important to me, then, too." He chuckled, remembering the phone call with her ex-boyfriend. "Greg, man. He was so scared that I was gonna find him and kill him."

Olivia shook her head. "When I think of how many kids I could have with him by now, Stabler, I could just kill you."

"No, Liv," Elliot said. "You wouldn't have been happy with him, or any of those guys. I don't think you're gonna be happy with this new guy either."

"You don't even know him," Olivia said, sighing.

Elliot nodded and threw his arms up. "Exactly!"

Olivia laughed. "It's gonna stay that way, too. And you're wrong. I'm happy, El. You gotta know that I'm happy." She saw the glazed-over look in his eyes as he smirked at her and she cleared her throat. "Who does a girl have to sleep with to get a drink around here?"

The bartender ran over with a second round for all of them and winked at her, smirking widely. When Olivia rolled her eyes, he walked away.

"They don't here you calling them for twenty minutes, but they always hear that, don't they?" Olivia quipped. "So, where were we? Munch, was that your question?"

"Uh, I guess so. Yeah," Munch said, tossing back his gin and tonic. "Fin, it's on you, man."

"Okay, my question is for you, Stabler. How many girls have you dated since your split with Kathy?" Fin asked, slurping the foam off of his beer.

"Just one," Elliot said, clearing his throat. "And, uh, she's amazing."

Everyone stared at him, and Olivia, narrow-eyed, asked, "You've been with the same girl for over a year and none of us have met her?"

"Now, first off, Liv, it's not your turn, so you just lost it," Elliot said. "Second, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" he asked, with a smug look on his face.

Olivia scoffed and smirked. "Bite me, Elliot."

"Don't tempt me, Olivia," Elliot replied, a smoldering look in his eyes. One that scared Olivia a little bit. she took a sip of her iced tea and shook her head. Elliot chuckled and said, "My turn. Liv, are you a screamer?"

"Excuse me?" Olivia spat, her eyes wide. "Why the hell are you asking me that?"

Elliot shrugged. "It's something I've always wondered. In bed, are you typically a screamer, or are you one of those quiet, breathy girls who needs to be really worked on to get a scream?"

"Fuck you, El," she said with a chuckle. "Not that I'm comfortable with all three of you knowing, but until recently I was pretty quiet. Only one man, the guy I'm with now, has ever made me scream. Or make any kind of noise, actually," she said, furrowing her brow. "He's actually the first guy I've never had to fake it with, either."

"I could make you scream in three seconds flat," Elliot said, under his breath, as he brought his beer to his lips.

Olivia, hearing him, just stared at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, " Elliot said, smiling and nodding. "I feel great. It's, uh, your turn."

"Uh-uh," Olivia said, looking at Fin. "I lost my turn, remember? Munch," she said with a nod.

Munch looked at his partner. "Fin, how has life changed since you've found out you're gonna be a daddy? Well, again."

Fin raised both eyebrows and let out a long breath. "It's scary, excitin', nerve-wrackin', and the most amazin' feelin' I've ever felt. I think it's because it's Casey, ya know? It's the right girl, this time, so I'm findin' myself wantin' to be there. Every step of the way."

"That's sweet," Olivia said. "I hope my boyfriend feels that way if I ever get pregnant."

Munch tilted his head. "I'm sure he will, Olivia. You're an amazing girl, and you're going to be an amazing mother. And, if the asshole walks out on you, you got three pseudo-daddies right here," he said, waving an arm over the table.

"Thanks, Munch," Olivia said, smiling. "Fin, uh, it's back to you, by the way," she said, nodding to him, noticing the baby-talk had just made Elliot uncomfortable.

"Stabler, who is this woman?" Fin asked. "A whole year and you haven't brought her by the station at all? Has she met your kids? Do they like her? Was she with you when Kathy died?"

"Okay, that's more than one question," Elliot said, swallowing his beer. "Let's see, uh, you don't know her, I haven't had a reason to bring her down to the precinct, she's met my kids, and they love her almost as much as I do. And it's been a year and a half, actually. Uh, so yeah. She met Kathy, Kathy gave us her blessing."

"Woah," Munch spat. "You love her? Like, _love_, love?"

Olivia gasped and stared at Elliot. "Hey! How could you love someone that I don't even know?"

"How could you?" Elliot barked in retaliation. "How does it feel, Liv?" he said, smirking at her. "Being left out of your best friend's love-life?"

Olivia suppressed a laugh, unwilling to show anyone at the table how ridiculous this all was, and how annoyed he'd just made her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two twenties, threw them on the table, and got up. "Ya know what, El? I'm done," she said shaking her head. "I'll see you guys at work." She walked out of the bar, without looking back.

"Man," Fin said. "I don't envy you, Stabler. I hate bein' on her bad side."

Eliot sighed and shook his head. "One more drink, on me. Then, uh, I should go. Kids and the girlfriend are probably wondering where I am," he said, silently wishing he'd walked out after Olivia. She was mad at him, and he couldn't have that. "Second thought, just, uh, take the money. I'm gonna head out now." He threw two twenties down, as Olivia had, and got up. He could catch her if he ran fast enough.

* * *

Olivia opened her door, quietly. She closed it with a soft click and tried to ease into the living room, but she tripped on something lying in the middle of the floor. "Ow! Mother fucker!" she yelped in a whisper. "What the hell?" She bent down and picked up the offending object. "Playstation controller, in the middle of the living room floor. I'm gonna have to talk to that boy in the morning." She threw the remote control onto the coffee table and walked upstairs. She opened the boy's door and smiled, getting a good look at his sleeping face. "You look just like your father," she whispered. She closed the door just as quickly and moved to the next room, her boyfriend's daughter's room, and opened the door. "Hey," she whispered, seeing the girl was awake. "You should be asleep."

"I can't sleep," the girl said.

"What's wrong, pumpkin?" Olivia asked, sitting on the girl's bed.

The girl sighed and sat up a bit more. "I saw a movie today, called Stepmother, and it was about this woman who was dying of cancer and she had to watch her ex-husband marry another woman, and she hated this other woman, but right before she died, she became really good friends with her to make sure that this woman was going to take very good care of her kids."

"Okay," Olivia said, "Honey, not that I don't think that sounds like a fabulous movie, but why is it keeping you awake?"

"It was my life on screen, pretty much. I keep thinking, ya know," the girl said, leaning closer to Olivia, "Mom knew she was gonna die, and even though she kind of hated you, I think she'd do the same thing. She wanted you to take care of us, even though she didn't really like you, because she knew you loved us. She saw it in everything you did, from the way you taught my brother how to throw a baseball, and the way you taught me how to throw a punch. She saw it every day, for years, even before you were with Daddy. When she got sick, she told me once that she knew Daddy would be okay, as long as he was with you. She knew we would be taken care of. She never said it, not to you, but she did thank you for loving us, Olivia."

Olivia had gotten choked up a bit. "Oh, honey, that's...come here," she said, pulling the teenager into her arms. "I do love you."

"I know," the young girl said. "We love you, too. We really do. So does my father, you know."

Olivia smiled. "Yeah, sweetie," she said. "I know. I love him, too."

The girl smiled and snuggled into her pillow. "Goodnight, Olivia."

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Olivia said, smiling and brushing the girl's hair back. She walked out of the room, breezing past the other bedroom door. The two oldest girls were light sleepers. If she so much and put a hand on the knob, they'd yell and groan, and that was a headache she just didn't need.

She walked into her bedroom and into the bathroom. She changed into her pajamas, washed her face, and brushed her teeth and her hair, pulling it back into a low ponytail. She yawned as she padded back into the bedroom and jumped when she saw the body in the bed.

"When the hell did you get home?" she asked, chuckling.

"About five minutes after you did. I was in the hall when you finished checking on the kids, I heard you talking then I followed you into the bedroom, and when you walked into the bathroom, I took the opportunity to get naked and get in bed," he said to her, grinning.

Olivia shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Nice. Stalked in my own home, by my own boyfriend."

"Fiancée," he corrected. "I'm taking your promise to marry me seriously."

Olivia looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You ask me to marry you at least once a day, I say yes, but I'm usually joking. I never know if you're serious. Like that time you asked me to marry you while you were shaving, as if you just asked me what time it was. When you give me a ring, I'll..."

He held out a blue box, stopping her mid-sentence. "Like this one?" he asked, flipping the box open. "This isn't exactly how I planned to ask you, but I can't wait anymore."

Olivia felt tears falling, but she didn't care. "Are you...really? Oh, my God."

"Yeah, I really am. Will you marry me?" he asked, turning slightly to look her in the eyes. He thumbed away her tears and tilted her head up. "Four years is too damn long to be in love without acknowledging it, and a year is certainly long enough to know that it's time."

"A year and a half," Olivia corrected. "I don't know," she said, shaking her head and sniffling. "My partner wants to run a background check on you, first. He'll see the ring and he'll flip out, for a reason I won't understand. Oh, and then he'll probably call you pretending to be my angry husband," she said, cupping his face.

He laughed as he nuzzled her nose. "Say yes, Liv, and I won't have to pretend."

"Yes, El," she said, pressing her lips softly to his. "A world of 'yes'."

Elliot kissed her again, deeper and with more feeling than ever. "Liv, I gotta tell ya, baby. The bad-ass cop at work, and the foul-mouth seductress at the bar, they're both amazing women, and they both turn me on in ways you can't possibly imagine. But, the girl you are right now? The soft, sentimental woman, who just had a heart-to-heart with Lizzie and cried when I proposed? That's my favorite side of Olivia Benson."

"I love you," Olivia said, kissing him sweetly.

Elliot smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, too, baby," he said, tugging on her pants. "Three small words, but they mean so, so much." He snaked a hand into her flannel bottoms and chuckled against her lips.

"What are you doing, El?" she said, smirking, kissing him.

"Making you scream," he said against her lips. "It'll take a hell of a lot longer then three seconds. And, Liv, you know I can't wait to have babies with you. Lots and lots of babies."

Olivia laughed as Elliot pulled off her top and brushed his thumbs over her nipples. She bit her lip and moaned and said, "I know, El. God, I know."

"Let's start now," he said, rolling them over and slipping inside of her.

Olivia looked up at him, her eyes widening, gasping as he filled her. "Too late," she whispered to him.

Elliot stopped moving. He looked down at her and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Really?" he asked, breathlessly, the broad smile spreading across his face.

Olivia, tears in her own eyes, reached up and brushed his tears away. "Really," she said to him.

Moving again with a new purpose, not to make her scream but to make her understand the power of the three words he was about to say, he whispered, "I love you."

**A/N Short, fluffy, tied up with a nice bow. Hope you liked the present!**


End file.
